


Eyepatch

by Kameiko



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Bonding, Cats, Drama, Family, Gen, Injury Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-04 19:11:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12777609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kameiko/pseuds/Kameiko
Summary: Frank rescues an animal friend.FulfilledPrompt!





	1. Rescue Eyepatch

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any franchises, products, and characters mentioned in this story. My work is purely for everybody's enjoyment, and I would like to keep it that way. Having ownership over all this that requires contracts and other lawful fruitfulness is just too much responsibility. I am not ready for that kind of work, nor does my massive paycheck of $0.00 show for it in the world of fanfiction.
> 
> Thank you for supporting Frank’s undeniable love for cats! He won’t tell you though, I have to speak for him.

Savannah, Georgia. The last place in the world Frank Castle ever thought he would end up.  He didn’t mind it so much. The southern comfort was a nice change of scenery from the blazes of New York, and it gave him the opportunity to try out his new so-called “entitlement” on unsuspecting victims. Sure, he could’ve gone some place that wasn’t so muggy. Say to Canada to whack some thugs, but they wouldn’t bring out the same pleasure of screams from the murdering-country themed hospitality. What a stereotypical gimmick.

For now he continued walking down Bay Street with his trench coat wrapped tightly around him. For being in the south he didn’t expect it to be so damn cold at this time of night. At least for a January but no one told him that Georgia was going to be hotter than Florida this year with Arizona like nights. Global warming this year had perceived him with no justice, and he had climate change to thank for that.

Frank made his way down one of the rocky cobblestone sloped road, while complaining in his head that the city needed a long overdue upgrade to their walkways of hurting feet. Even when he reached the bottom of the slope there was still a hill he needed to walk down to get to River Street. Internally cursing the ground he took a few steps down the hill, and was almost to the bottom but stopped when he heard a soft mewl coming from the side of one of the buildings. He ignored it as hurt animals weren’t his concern, his priority; he had something better to do then to let his subconscious bang on the front door like it was doing, and continued his journey down the walkway of hurting feet.

The meowing became louder. Frank continued to ignore it and the banging as he figured some nice Samaritan, that wasn’t completely drunk, from one of the late night bars would call the late night animal control. Until the sound started to grow louder with the sound of pain. Frank cursed to himself, and stopped about three quarters down the hill. He turned to where the commotion was coming from, and saw in the dim light a small person messing with some form of a feline. He figured it was a child staying passed curfew that was poking the injured bear with a stick. At least that was his first assumption. Where were the kid’s parents? Irrelevant really. Did he want to get involved? No, but the monologue Jiminy Cricket in his head told him to get involved anyways.

Frank walked over to see why the cat sounded like it was on its last breath. When he got there he saw a small boy that looked no older than eight, that was definitely staying out passed curfew, holding onto a black and grey stripped looking tabby with a bloody green leaf on its right eye. Frank looked over at the boy for an explanation. The boy quickly placed the cat on the ground and ran away. Frank didn’t bother to chase after him. His parents would do their own form of punishment when he waltzed back in through the window of his apartment building.  Assuming he lived on the bottom floor on one of the apartment buildings that surrounded the other half of Bay Street. The fire escapes were no good in this part of town.

After the kid was out of sight Frank knelt down to the cats level to see what all the crying was about. He saw blood caked underneath the leaf and not just on top. Slowly he peeled it off to see that the cat’s eye was missing from the way it was closed. The cat didn’t like that very much, and did its best to claw and bite Frank. Frank gritted his teeth and bared the pain. He had to give the fur ball credit. When it came to defense lock and grip from cat’s claws the game for the cat was a guarantee victory latch. He quickly pried the animal off his hand, wrapped it in his trench coat, and made it tight enough; so it couldn’t get out or bite him. He could hear the thing growling and hissing.

The cat could temporarily deal with it. Frank turned around, and made his journey back up the rocky slope of Hell. He hated it even more than coming down, and wondered how Savannian’s could do this on a daily basis. His legs felt heavy, and the cat wasn’t making his situation any better by trying to bite through his coat. He was just thankful that his safe house was only a few streets away. Once he got there he opened up his trench coat, and placed the frantic cat down on the table that held a desk lamp and a few medical supplies.

The cat was scared and was sitting in an upright position while looking down at the table with its tail fuzzed out around its hind and front legs. Frank moved the light away from the cat, so it wasn’t in its face. Once that was out of the way he slowly placed his hands on the cat’s chest to see how the heart beat was doing. Panic-normal was the conclusion he came up with. Not good. He needed the cat to relax, and go to sleep by passing out from exhaustion and hurt; so he could bandage the eye.

Continuing the examination, Frank moved his hands down to the cats belly to feel for anything broken. Nothing felt wrong underneath his fingertips. This was a good sign until the tail started to thump loudly on the table out of frustration. Frank immediately stopped what he was doing, knowing that he probably felt a sensitive sore spot. At least now he was able to tell the cat was definitely a female from the position of his thumbs on the cat’s underside. He slowly moved his hands away from the hissing bundle of fur, and held them up in the air to single that he wasn’t going to do anything more to her. The cat seemed satisfied as she laid down and started rubbing at her hurt eye with her paw.

This was going to be a long night. Frank wondered if he should’ve sedated her, so that he could continue his examination or deal with scratch and biting attempts. He didn’t know, and he was running out of time to get the eye socket cleaned up. If he was unable to then the cat would scratch at her wound at a later time when she was more aware of her surroundings, which could lead to an infection from the germs of the leaf that he still needed to remove, or death from an infection that’s caused by the stilling of crusted blood. He didn’t have much of a choice. He quickly removed the leaf from its position to see that fresh blood was seeping out of the slits of the closed eye. This needed to be taken care of now.

Frank fetched a clean bandage, cotton balls, and some sterilizing disinfectant medicine that he would use on his own wounds. He had no idea if this was even good for the feline, but he wasn’t really stocked up on veterinarian medical supplies. Holding his breath he held the cat down by the scruff of its neck, and quickly dabbed at the closed lid. The cat instantly tried to flee from the table with its claws scraping and clawing at the table’s surface. Frank wasn’t having it no matter how bad he felt. He applied a bit more pressure to the neck and threw his arm on top of her to hold her still as he continued to apply more medicine to the wound. The cat was crying loudly in pain and fear while still trying to make a minimum effort to escape. Frank never knew he could feel this guilty. For the first time in a while knowing that he was causing more pain to the cat that didn’t deserve to be this way in the first place. In the morning he would make this awful situation up to her up with well-deserved wet cat food with the best artificial flavors cat brands can offer! Maybe he’ll go out to catch a fish to sprinkle some fish bites on top. Not out of the Savannah River of course. That place more likely had three headed fish than normal ones. For now he pushed the guilt to the back of his head, and continued to do what needed to be done to make sure that cat would live to see another night.

After Frank was done cleaning and bandaging the cat’s eye he picked up the cat and placed her on his cot. The cat pawed at the bandage not liking the fact that something scratchy and itchy was wrangling away into her fur. Frank stopped her before all his hard work would go to waste. The cat bit his hand when he placed it near her, and the way she latched onto him informed Frank that she wasn’t letting him go anytime soon. Frank made no move to move away even when she drew blood. The cat seemed to not to be satisfied with the blood as she let go. Then Frank moved her hand, and she tried to put her claws into his hand but he was out of her reach. Frank noticed the sign and who knows? Maybe it will comfort her a bit? He placed his hand on the cot, so the cat could have better aim for her stress relief human fidget toy. Like Frank, the cat seen the signs, and wasted no time in taking advantage of the present she was offered.  She wanted to make him suffer, and goes to bite the pinky finger first. Frank took this to his advantage and pulled his hand away from her. She didn’t like what the human was doing to her. “Mock the cat” was not a game she enjoyed. She reached up to grab it. She wanted to show the human that his fingers were going to be the inevitable scratching and biting post of doom. Too bad the hand was too high for her. Curses! Although, she still had another solution up her fur sleeve to use. She sat back down, and curled down into a jumping prance, and was about to make her move when the hand came right back down to scratch behind her ears ever so gently and making her feel really good. Damn those head scratches! Cats only weakness!

This wasn’t supposed to make her purr. She wanted to cause the most destruction and mayhem possible to the human that put a fuzzy over her! Maybe even tried to maim a finger or two. She glared at the human in front of her that seemed to be smiling like he was pleased with himself and the scratches. This made her want to claw his beautiful eyes out. Those big beautiful-malicious eyes that any senile mother would love. Even when they showed more morbid things then she was comfortable with. A feline mother would be proud, or more specifically the “animal instincts” of a female animal would kick in for this type of situation and be proud at the same time. Then that would settle the problem here. This obvious human was without a mother that would discipline its young for supporting such bad behavior. She would have to take up the mantle of a mother to teach the human a lesson or two in the fine arts of catting, and if he behaved well she would let him keep all his fingers. Except the pinky. She didn’t really care for that part of the human anatomy. 

Frank looked pretty surprised with the amount of energy the cat had.  Sure it wasn’t very much after scratching his hand nearly to bits, and flopping onto the floor ready to fall asleep. Frank didn’t expect her to fall off the thing. Thankful Frank picked up the cat in his arms, made sure she wasn’t in any pain at the moment, and placed her back on the cot. The blood on it had already dried from the cats injuries after tossing and turning for a few minutes. He didn’t care if looked like an exorcism took place here with the blood of Christ. The cat needed a place to sleep.  He had to change the cot out every few weeks anyways due to his injuries he received due to his punishing at nights. Since he arrived in Savannah not too long ago he really didn’t get the chance to make due with christening it with blood. Not that he wanted the cats to be the first one to do it. He rather his own battle scars do the talking in his wake. For now he’ll let the cat sleep in a comfortable spot it was in. He hoped it was just the cat’s blood next to her. He didn’t even want her to sleep there, but she refused to move.  Frank at least placed a blanket there, so the cat didn’t roll in it.

When he moved away from the cot he let the cat feel around, and get to know her new home for the time being. She sniffed and pawed at the spot she wanted to lay at. It had to be deemed to her standards after all. She didn’t have much time to think about anything as the adrenaline was leaving her body, and the pain in her eye started to sting. She hissed, growled, and dug her claws in the mattress tearing it apart in that one spot. Frank didn’t bother to get up and tend to her when he sat in his chair. In this state he would only do more harm than good for the feline in pain. His heart even dropped a little. Taking a deep breath he leaned all the way back in the chair to think about how tomorrow he was going to get her help. He’ll go full out long sleeve and woolly pants everything in this hot soup to get her the treatment she needed. Hopefully nobody attempts to arrest him or he passed out from heatstroke.

At least she wasn’t doing what she was doing all night. She passed out around 1 AM from exhaustion, and didn’t even attempt to drink out of the water bowl Frank left out for her against his best judgment due to the injury, but it was well bandaged enough to not get any kind of infection in it. Not even dysentery could beat this cat! Frank laughed to himself at his own pathetic joke that he didn’t realize he could still make. It really has been a while since that day his son brought home an injured puppy. Slowly he closed his eyes knowing tomorrow will come with hopefully a bright future for his new friend.


	2. Take care of Eyepatch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with injured cats was something Frank didn't sign up for. The signup sheet was a something turned full-time job.

A Hassle. No other words best to describe Frank’s awful morning. The cat was trying to make mishmash out of the poorly made cat carrier made out of the finest cardboard Kevlar infused home with velcro drapes with the outside smelling like left over fish from the fisherman’s boat moving along through the dirty Savannah River. Frank had to make a mental note never to shop at the arts and crafts store for protection devices. Too many bad smells. Proof was in the pudding of his finger that the cat mangled its jaws into.

Needing a bit of a break after the uneventful encounter he left the safe house to find a newspaper he could temporarily steal off of a neighbors door step. Sipping his mug of coffee he brought with him he made his way down a few blocks to see what business had the morning paper on their door step. Usually Frank would steal from his next door neighbor if it wasn’t for the suspicion that was being raised. After that sore throat yelling into the night sky incident nothing was wrong with a change up every now and then. By the next month, at six in the morning, he would be back to stealing the neighbors paper and hear the wonderful cotton balls in the ear induced yelling.

Making his way back to his safe house, while skimming through the paper, he started to think about why he was attracted to such an animal as this. Yes, he had his dog back in New York, but too many bad things had happened that led to a period of bewilderment and forced cut ties. Not a good state to be in. Frank needed to keep his mind clear of all the possible living animals that might grow such a connection to him. Being the damn cat had wormed its way into his heart he had no choice but to feel a bit of pity for her.

The chances that the owner comes crawling to this side of town looking for their lost pet was out of the question. Maybe. There was that kid from yesterday. Maybe he would show up. No time to think about that now. Frank has the feline’s state of health on his priority list. Opening the door to his safe house he noted that the cat curled up at the far end of the cat carrier trying to get some sleep. Good. Frank didn’t want to hear any meowing on drive to the veterinarian’s office.

Picking up the carrier he quickly made his way out the door, looking both ways to make sure no one was coming up to him at the last minute to play twenty questions about the awful handheld set up, and to the nearest place to hail a cab. Hopefully one that didn’t mind the animal company and didn’t judge his craftsmanship. His luck hadn’t run out. The cab driver that pulled up to Frank was really friendly. Signaling the usual cat awing noises when seeing some adorable creature being the main benefactor of friendliness. Frank sighed internally not really wanting to wait around for this person to finish. Hoping the grunted noises he was making would get his attention. It worked. The driver gave a to the point apology.  

The ride was mostly peaceful. The driver went on about how they had a feline friend of their own that died of Leukemia. Sad the situation had been for the young driver, and explained the baby actions from earlier. Frank gave the driver a big tip to show his condolences. Never seen anyone break down in tears at their feet before for something like that. Backing away Frank pulled the cat out of the back seat and made his way to the front desk of the very off-white and overzealous looking vet office. The front receptionist greeted him with a much muted tone. Sounded like someone really didn’t want to be here today. Fair enough. Frank wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. All he had to do was fill out the new patient formal paperwork shoved in front of his face after they say the carrier. They automatically assumed he was carrying a stray that he adopted off the streets. Part of the good Samaritan business for helpless cats.

Sitting down in one of the chairs he began filling out the first part of the form. First name of the human in charge? Francis seemed to be a good start. If he was going to start lying on forms he might as well make it half right at least. Make the poor front desk ladies job harder. Last name? An Italian last name was off the table. How about Blackwell? Francis Blackwell. Good name to get to the point of things. Start off saying Francis with the whole classroom laughing, and then just roll Blackwell off the tongue to make everyone shut up. Yeah. No one would mess with Francis “Punisher” Blackwell.

Not even half way through the paper work of lies a small child decided to grace Frank’s presence. Thumb in mouth and snot coming out of the nose. Wonderful. Frank made notice that the parents are too busy yapping away on their cell phones to come collect their kid. Typical. Knowing he wasn’t going to escape the children’s curiosity he turned the carrier towards the girl to give her a better look of the beast inside. The child didn’t seem to be interested in the cat but the carrier itself. Looking like they wanted to ask a million questions about the decor and even covers their nose when the strange fishy smell hit them.

The cat didn’t seem amused at all by the little human. She hated this, and didn’t like the fact her main human chew toy decided to let this child stick their fingers inside the top holes of the box trying to see if they can grab her! Not amused! When she gets out she will show the tiny human. After, hopefully, a nice small bowl of fresh salmon, assuming this place is a restaurant for pets since there were many dogs and cats here waiting for their owner’s names to be called. Salmon always made things better for her. She remembered the small bits mixed with her cat food from the family she previously adopted. They always knew what she wanted when she purred and rubbed up against her human child’s legs. He was such a good child. Even after the accident with her eye. She missed them. Drooping her ears she continued to ignore the child poking her finger inside her cage of confined comfort.

They didn’t have much longer to wait. Her human’s name was called, and she can hear the over cheery tone of a veterinarian’s assistant. This didn’t sound like no waiter. She couldn’t place a paw on why this voice sounded so familiar. She didn’t get a chance to recall as she was removed from the box and setting her on top of some kind of work table. The assistant smiling down at her giving her the best ear scratches in the world. Oh yes, this human knew what they were doing with those fingers! What came next she didn’t like. The fancy table still bare and the human’s hands were not filled with delicious fish. They were empty! How dare this human! The human had the nerve to show up empty handed, and take off the cat’s comfortable safety blanket around the eye. She had grown quite fond of the fabric now that it wasn’t irritating her skin. What was going to happen next? How did the human get a bottle of clear liquid in their hand so fast? She didn’t like the evil stuff! If felt salty and it burned! This human deserved to have all their fingers maimed off!  

Frank’s shoulders tensed at the growls and looks of doom radiating off the cat. He didn’t like seeing her in angry or in pain. When she was like this it usually meant Frank will suffer another scratch or two when they go home. Saline solution in his body when used always felt cold and gave off a tingly sensation. He could only imagine what the cat was going through, and what else she will have to endure if she couldn’t handle this simple liquid. God forbid if there was liquid medicine and pills to come next! Lucky for him the next bit was that of information. He didn’t really want to hear that either when the vet’s voice dipped into a very professional stature. Telling him that his new friend will need surgery to suture up the eyelids to prevent any infections or bacteria from entering the sensitive area. Rubbing his face Frank motioned with his hand outreached to provide him with a pen to sign the paper work to start the procedure right away.

After hearing all the medical mumble jumble Frank decided it was time to take his leave and let the vet’s do their work. Plus he didn’t want to stick around too long just in case anyone recognized him. His disguise wasn’t exactly on point with military graded camouflage. Adjusting his hat he hailed for a cab to take him to the local pet store to pick up what he needed for his new companion.

Frank asked the cabbie to wait for proximately 15 minutes in this particular space, and if they left he wouldn’t be getting any bills with Grant’s face on them. Showing the bills they nodded enthusiastically and pulled up their feet up on the dashboard signaling they weren’t leaving from this parking space. Frank left the man at that and walked into the store. The first thing that hit his nostrils was the putrid smell. He hated the smell. Walking into a pet store that allowed people to bring their pets to these places always smelled like overly disinfected spray after a dog took a crap on the floor. Scrutinizing his nose he quickly grabbed a cart and made his way up and down the aisles grabbing everything he needed hoping they’re the right items. More so looking at the pictures on the items in question. Pink cat food bag with a very unhappy white kitty? Good enough for his female feline. Pink litter box? Great. A proper cat carrier? Who needed that? Velcro Kevlar will the new rage. Pink glittery pooper scooper? Perfect. A pink scratching post with a little dangling mouse on top? Purrfect. Trying to find pink flea medicine and failing at finding it in the exact color? Perfect. Pink toys? Not really stylish but had a few seconds to spare as this part didn’t smell stinky. Take in the unscented polluted air. Everything pink? Yes. To the check out line? Yes! Out the door with three minutes to spare? Great! To be honest he doubt the guy would’ve left anyways. Who would turn down bills with Grant’s face on them? No one!  
  
Frank wished he used the self checkout now. Even the cashier ringing up his stuff with that cheerful smile smelled like disinfectant but scented. Ignoring her chatter he concentrated on putting the bags in his cart. He really didn’t want to talk to anyone that reeked of glorified sunflower odor. Wanting to get out of there faster he paid the cashier with overly large bills to get her to shut up and just tell him his total before they ended up taking out their wallet filled with photographs of their soon-to-be grandchildren. Taking it in surprise the cashier gave him a quizzical look that was asking him if he robbed a bank or plan to rob this store in the future. Hush money they were thinking. He shook his head signaling he did nothing illegal and plan to do just that. Just stole from thugs in a gang on his hike down here from New York. Nothing illegal about stealing from people who made other peoples lives hell to steal from. Now they’re dead with their heads strung up on trees for other mafia leaders to see. Shrugging their shoulders they gave the man his receipt and pocketed the well generous tip. Who scans bar codes on cash anyways?  

Making his way back to the cab was easy. He stopped only when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out he answered knowing it was from the vet office that was calling him and not some thug that wandered all their way down here to enact some kind of revenge. The reason didn’t matter anyways. He was going to change his number after the remaining vet visits. He was expecting it to be the assistant but it was the main vet person that owns the clinic. They went on about talking in the usual medical professional voice that all doctors of every living thing on this planet talks in. Said that the cat’s surgery was successful, and she needed to be held over night for evaluation. Frank was ok with that. Hanging up without a goodbye he ordered the cabbie to take him a few blocks away from his safe house. Handing the person his promised Grant bills before he left with his own stuff.

Setting everything up wasn’t significantly too hard for such a cramped area. The recliner had to be moved in the next room where his guns are stored, but that was a dream a come through for Frank. Relaxing in the chair he tilted it back staring at the walls to his left that are lined with all kinds of hand guns and sniper rifles. Closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, breathing in all the gun powder residue he started to contemplate names for the cat. After all he did leave the “name of your cat” line blank on the forms. He really didn’t know what to call her, and he left in a hurry before the front counter could ask him. What would be a good name for this one-eyed solution to his lone problems? Maybe One-Eyed Outlaw? No. Patches? No and doubt a female cat would want to be called Patches or Outlaw. Bubbles? No as she is not blue and full of smiles and giggles. Fighter? She sure presented that. Being a trooper through this whole procedure.

Going through a list of names he really couldn’t figure out what to call her. Getting out of his chair he went back to the main room and started eyeing the table where the bloodstained leaf laid. Green Leaf? A unisex name, and he had the humorous feeling of putting an earpiece in the cats ear, and asking for the cat to come in on the radio and if she copied. That would be a crazy sitcom episode of _Punisher and Punisher’s Kitty_ waiting in the mix. A soft chuckle left Frank’s lips. It was nice feeling to be able to feel ever since New York. Being able to laugh at such silly things like that. Not since the moments he had with his son. They both would be playing some kind of military like game, and they would use walkie- talkies to communicate. Always calling his son Green Leaf while he was known as Red Fire. Sometimes Frank’s daughter or wife would be known as Bubble Blue.

Looking over to the cat’s cleaning area after the fond memory he noticed that he was missing the most important ingredient to a nice and proper litter box. The actual litter! Rubbing his temples in frustration he went back to the place where he called for another cab. He really hoped it wasn’t the same one from earlier. He really didn’t feel like pulling out anymore big bills for them or listen to their sob story.

Frank’s nightmare came true. The same driver rolled down their window and gave Frank a very creepy smile that showed they were up to something. The guy held up some kitty littler in a non-pink container to Frank’s disappointment. Then goes on about how Frank is a Godsend for helping them pay for their college bills that that had to go out and buy the finest litter in existence. Frank didn’t say anything as he grabbed the box. Not even waiving he left the man sitting there wearing that Cheshire smile and nodding their head like everything in the world wasn’t against them for a change. Not even a full day has gone by since Frank’s life has been ambushed with this cause.


	3. Return Eyepatch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Letting go of a new friend can be hard unless you choose your way of saying good-bye. Does that make the situation any easier? The author thinks so, and thanks you for reading this story.

Things are going well for Frank. Coming home to a one-eyed house cat that likes to lick blood off his hands and face when he was trying to relax was part of his normal routine now. He moved his hands away from the cat’s mouth, and sat back in his chair with a glass of whiskey in his hands. He closed his eyes and started to think about the first person that came to his mind: his son with his toys. Each scene had a different set of toys that were set on attacking one another. Frank always ended up being the bad guy in the end with the dismembered legs, arms, and sometimes heads of alien creatures or poor green army action figures. Everything seemed ok then. Back when dinosaurs and aliens were the only things that no one minded as long as the fights were only in the kids imaginations.   

Another round of toy war goes by when his dream walkie-talkie starts to give off an unusual alien signal. Confused he picked it up bringing it closer to his ear to hear that it only perceived to get louder till it caused his dream self to wake up. Quickly Frank pushes the cat off his lap and goes to check his camera feeds. He turns off the loud alarm before it attracted any bystander’s nosy eyes. Looking up at the monitor in front of him he sees a man and a woman knocking on the lower bricks of his safe house. Zooming in to take a closer look he noticed the hole digging into the ground. This wasn’t a good sign for his security. Curiously he keeps watching the two wondering what they are looking for. When they couldn’t find anything with their smart phones flashlight the woman started to argue with the man over the fact that even for a hole this size only a rat could fit through there and not a cat. That and she didn’t want to dig around the dirt anymore. Wouldn’t the woman be surprised how flexible a cat can be with their bodies and minds when they want to be somewhere. He remembered when his newly found friend would find new ways to slip through the open vents and grates to flip out of the house.

The two left after no luck with trying to find any more lose pieces above the hole. Pointing his hidden outside camera up to see where they were going he zoomed in again he noticed a car with a kid standing next to it crying. The kid looked very familiar. The same one he encountered about two months ago trying to patch up Frank’s furry friend. Looking at the sobbing sight of the kid crying into his mother’s arms claiming he did see the cat fit through the narrow hole. Frank didn’t want to doubt the kid’s eyes. Cats are very intelligent when they need to adapt to situations right in front of him, but after further examining the hole with the camera he had to agree with the mother.

He still needed to do something about this situation and quickly. He didn’t need them coming back later or even the next hoping for his feline friend to appear. He captured the plate on the vehicle with the camera, and printed out the image. He will need this to find the family. In the mean time he went to the wall where the parents were digging around in. Taking his flashlight he poked it down inside the dark hole to see a cat eye way in the back facing him. Something he doubts the families smart phones would have picked up with its limited range. Scooting back he tried to lure the cat out with his voice and pats on the ground. The cat didn’t budge. She even hissed at him when he tried to stick his hand in there to make an attempt at a coaxing method.   


Not amused! Not amused! No one here would be! The earlier people screaming at her to come out and shining bright lights in her eye was enough! She didn’t like that one bit. What were these humans’ problems? Would they like it if she shined a light source into their eyes? No, they wouldn’t, so why should she? Not even from her new owner. Making another hissing sound she swiped at the dirt to make sure Frank received the message. Leave her alone! Moving herself closer till her back hit one of the support beams. Mostly trying to get out of the flashlights view. Frank’s hand exited from the hole and he turned off the flashlight. Good. A place to rest for now was all she wanted after escaping through a hole in the floor from the inside of the house that led to this underground dirt mound. The mother was right. Even with her size she couldn’t fit through the hole. She just made it seem like she could.

Wanting nothing more than a nap she rolled around in the dirt. Trying to get comfortable in such harsh conditions wasn’t easy; especially, when the odor of artificially dead fish filled the air. Her ears perked up at the scent to see that Frank left salmon flavored _Fancy Feast_ at the opening of the hole. She has grown accustomed to making this her favorite snack as per of making it a point to Frank when she wouldn’t eat the dry food and just wanted fish for three meals a day. The only problem laid in front of her was that she couldn’t get to it. Back through the hole she came out of she would have to go up into.

Frank went back inside to do some business with the image he printed out earlier. He had to find where this family lived, so he could return the cat to its original owner. Maybe even give the kid a lesson on how to treat injured animals, so that an eyeless cat situation would never happen again. Worth a try. With the stolen Wi-Fi information he has he used it to look for the kid’s home address in databases.  Didn’t take him long to find a match. He wrote down the information on the printed out image. Once done with all the tasks he gets up from his chair to gather all the cat things he had bought to get them packed up in a cardboard box. Looking around to make sure he didn’t miss anything he heard a meow from the front door. He looked over in surprised to see his cat clawing at it wanting out. No doubt for the food. Curious how the cat got inside he decided to make it his mission to look around the floor to see if there was any holes, and there it was. Right under the towel where the scooper laid. Sneaky.

Let her out! Let her out! She must get to the feast! Unfortunately she didn’t get that luxury. Frank had come up behind her and lifted her into his arms. How annoying! Petting and scratching behind her ears wouldn’t make up for this missed delicacy! She pawed at the human’s fingers. Frank didn’t let her bite his fingers. He swiftly placed her in the makeshift carrier and closed the lids. Rude! The cat paws at the box in sad attempts to get free and get to her precious food. She must get to the food! The food! How can he just walk past the food! She started to cry loudly when Frank wouldn’t go back to get it.   


Stopping about halfway from the food he laid out he realized that his friend might be hungry, and this will be the last meal she’ll get from him. He didn’t want to be the cruel guy here. Going back he grabbed the food. Placing it carefully in the carrier he let the cat enjoy her final meal before picking the carrier back up and walking to where the parents lived. They weren’t too far from him, so there was no need for a taxi.

Once there he sees that the car the father was driving parked in the apartment’s parking lot. Going inside the apartment area he looked around the inside to find the room number. When he did he sat the carrier down and rang the bell. Looking down at the cat carrier he couldn’t help but let a frown plaster on his face. This being it. No more playing with the cat, no more feedings, no more chasing after her when she escapes, and just no more anything.

Snapping out of his thoughts he looked up to see the father had answered the door asking who he was. Frank didn’t say anything as he handed the cat carrier to the man. The father squints his eyes in disapproval at the man. Not really trusting a complete stranger handing him something that looked like a five year old's arts and crafts project. Frank was about to explain the situation when the feline in the box let out a noise. The kid that was standing behind their father came out of hiding, and started to scream in joy. Quickly grabbing the cat carrier out of their father’s hands they opened it up, and instantly the cat jumped out of the cage and started to rub around her kids legs.

Frank huffed at that. He was a bit jealous of the affection that was at one point made for him being used to make someone else happy. The kid looked up at Frank after hearing his childish noises. Frank looked down at the kid, and forced a smile on his lips. He wasn’t one to do this very often. Leaning down to the kid’s height he pulled out a book from his back pocket, and handed it to the kid. The kid took the book with interest, and started to question why he would need this to stitch up his pet in the future? Frank didn’t answer the question. The book didn’t mention anything about making wounded animals worse in the care of those who aren’t meant for it. Instead it talks about all kinds of DIY techniques, that didn’t involve a needle and thread, to make the animal comfortable as they get the proper help it needed. He didn’t want to tell the kid that. He wanted the kid to figure it out for themselves since he wasn’t going to be by this kid’s side every time of the day. They also might turn into a very bad caregiver if their hand was held for them the whole time, and the parents really didn’t seem to care about the fur ball months ago till they started snooping around his residence after a crying child through a tantrum and demanded them too. The parents probably just bring it to the vet for its yearly shots due to forced requirements.

Seem to be on queue that the kid’s questions changed to something else. Mostly about the dreadful missing eye. He looked up to see the parents face furrowing down in curiosity and debating if he needed to call the police and report animal abuse. Frank stopped the father’s hands from dialing any numbers and made a notion to give him a chance. Just this once Frank will show the kid. Frank takes the book from the child, and points to the table of contents page that points out on different page numbers what to do about infectious eyes; so things like what happened to the cat never happen again in the kids watchful eye. The kid felt guilty for that. Taking the book back the kid wonders off with their cat following right behind him.

Frank didn’t even get to say goodbye. Feeling a bit sad he sat the box full of cat supplies in front of the man. He bid him a goodbye with a nod and left the porch. He didn’t even turn back to see that the cat was in one of the windows watching him leave. A silent goodbye from both of them to one another was assumed received. That was how most goodbyes for Frank had been lately.

Back at home Frank settled back in his chair. Picking up one of his trusty guns to give it a good cleaning he notices a collar attached to the nozzle. A piece of thread came loose from the leather thing. Pulling the collar off of the gun he twirled it in his fingers. A pretty black and white color with a tint of pink. Flipping the tags around he reads the word “Eyepatch.” Smiling Frank placed the collar back on the table side. Picking up a rag that sat right next to the object he started his cleaning.


End file.
